Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the US (PIRUS)

PIRUS is a database of 2,226 Islamist, far-left, far-right, and single-issue extremists who have radicalized to violent and non-violent extremism in the United States from 1948 through 2018. You can access the database for free here. 

The data from the May 2020 PIRUS research brief shows that radicalization in the United States has generally occurred in several waves, corresponding to the rise of far-left extremism in the 1970s, far-right extremism beginning in 1980s and continuing today, and Islamist extremism becoming more prominent since terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001.

Individual Attributes

PIRUS identified the following associations of individual attributes and violent extremism:

• Individuals who are female, older, married, have children, and have stable employment histories are significantly less likely to plan, prepare for, or engage in acts of violence than those who are young, male, unmarried, unemployed, or under-employed.
• Individuals who have engaged in pre-radicalization crime, show evidence of mental illness, substance abuse, or trauma, and act alone are more likely to engage in extremist violence.
• There are positive correlations between mental illness, substance abuse, trauma, pre-radicalization crime and violent extremism. Those acting alone are significantly more likely to display these characteristics than those who are part of groups or organizations.